The 9-Day Journey from Morocco to Namibia

Sorry I didn’t get this up before Namibia, but here’s a little bit about what happened from the trip between Morocco and Namibia. We were at sea for nine days from Thurs Feb 5 to Sat Feb 14.  It was a long stretch, but much smoother than our Atlantic passage. We had classes 8 of the nine days. All of them are going very well. In my Asian American Fiction class, we finished our first book The Woman Warrior and had an in-class essay (that I ended up doing very well on). In my speech class I and a panel of students gave a presentation about some solutions to the concerns of carbon emissions. In my Strategic Management course, we are getting into our online game/simulation in which I and a team of students are managing an international shoe company in an 8 company industry. In addition to classes, during our 9 day journey we crossed the equator. Every semester when Semester at Sea crosses the equator, the day (Neptune Day) is only for celebration and rituals. Starting at around 9am, the ship’s crew, dressed up in sea-outfits went up and down the hallways banging on drums, pots, and pans. Once the entire ship was crowding around the pool, King Neptune came out (our captain painted entirely green) and began the ceremony for those “pollywogs”crossing the equator for the first time. Everyone had to have “fish guts”(some green liquid that smelled very bad) poured on them, kissed a fish, and kissed the King’s ring, before jumping into the pool. In addition to this ritual, it is customary that many people shave their heads on Neptune Day. In total, I and over 70 other students (and several teachers and life-long learners) shaved their heads, including well over a dozen girls. The ship felt a little like we were a large swim team. After the festivities, essentially the entire ship hung out by the pool for pretty much the entire day since the weather was so nice. Also, I should mention that Neptune Day was held on Feb 9, however, we did not actually end up crossing the equator until the following day. My birthday was this past Friday, and to everyone who sent emails, Thank You so much, I really appreciate all of them. At dinner, I had TWO huge (and delicious) ice cream cakes (one that I got the week prior and one that mom ordered). So, I was able to make a lot of people happy and meet a lot of new people, essentially inviting anyone in the dining hall to try to help me finish the two cakes. They were a real treat from the typical desserts we have for dinner on the ship.

 

The following day (Sat, Feb 14), we docked in Namibia early in the morning and had our first diplomatic briefing, in which an official from the US Embassy came on to brief us about the country. We are at our logistical pre-port right now for Cape Town, South Africa (we will be arriving early tomorrow morning). We’ll be in Cape Town for four nights and five days, our longest port so far. All that I have planned right now is a safari and wine-tasting for our second and third days in Cape Town. Beyond that, a few things I’m hoping to do are go to Robben Island, hike up Table Mountain, and visit a township.

 

As before, I’ll try to have my post for Namibia up soon. We had an absolutely awesome three days there. Namibia, on the Western coast of Southern Africa is, with the exception of several German towns/cities, a barren dessert. It is known as the desert-sports capital of the world and just as a preview to my post, we did several EXTREME activities (don’t worry, no injuries here)

 

Also, depending on how carefully you were reading earlier, I was just kidding and did NOT shave my head, (I’m not that crazy).